Self-checkout system for bypassing in-store checkout

ABSTRACT

An online shopping concierge service allows shoppers to purchase items on behalf of customers and checkout using a mobile application, circumventing traditional point-of-sale check-out systems. A customer places an order using a mobile application or website associated with the online shopping concierge service. The online shopping concierge service charges a payment instrument of the customer in the value of the selected items. The system transmits the order to a shopper, who receives an order for fulfillment on a mobile device. The shopper collects and scans items using a mobile application. The mobile application transmits an identification of the items for purchase and their total cost to the online shopping concierge service, which transmits payment to the retailer. Alternatively, the mobile application encodes an identification of the items for purchase into an encoded image, which is scanned by a cashier, allowing the shopper to complete an accelerated check-out.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates generally to self-checkout technologies, and morespecifically to checking out using a mobile application. Shoppersfulfill orders at a physical retailer on behalf of customers, as part ofan online shopping concierge service. Once a shopper has collected oneor more items for purchase, the shopper must wait in line and purchasethe items according to the traditional check-out process. This is atime-consuming process, and because shoppers use a mobile device to scanand record items each item picked up for purchase, involves redundantactivity. A more efficient check-out process allows the shopper tocomplete purchase of selected items on his/her mobile device, therebyeliminating redundant actions and reducing the time required to fulfillan order.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention enable a shopper to bypass a physicalcheck-out process at a retailer by completing his/her purchase via amobile application on the shopper's phone. In one embodiment, theshopper is shopping at the retailer on behalf of a customer, whospecified a list of items for the shopper to purchase via an onlineshopping concierge service. The customer places an order using a websiteor client application that communicates with the online shoppingconcierge service. The order specifies one or more items to be purchasedat a retailer. The online shopping concierge service collects paymentfrom the customer and transmits the order to a shopper. The shoppertravels to one or more retailers to fulfill the order. While at aretailer, the shopper collects and scans each item using a shoppermobile application that runs on the shopper's mobile device. The shoppermobile application records quantitative and qualitative informationdescribing each product and produces a basket of items for purchase. Theshopper mobile application transmits information describing the basketto the online shopping concierge service, which determines a total valuefor the basket of goods. The online shopping concierge service transmitspayment to a system associated with the retailer, thereby completingpurchase of the basket of items. The shopper then leaves the store anddelivers the purchased items to the customer.

In another embodiment, the shopper performs an accelerated check-outusing his/her specialized mobile application. Once the shopper hascollected all of the items requested in the order, the shopper mobileapplication encodes the basket details into a scannable image containinga machine-readable code, such as a QR code. The machine-readable codecontains information that describes the items in the shopper's basket,or a link thereto. A cashier, employee, or automated scanner at thephysical check-out scans the encoded image, causing the details of eachitem in the basket to be transmitted to the retailer without requiringthat each item be individually scanned.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates and environment of an online shopping conciergeservice, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an online shopping concierge service, accordingto one embodiment.

FIG. 3A is a diagram of a customer mobile application (CMA) 106,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3B is a diagram of a shopper mobile application (SMA) 112,according to one embodiment.

FIGS. 4A and 4B contain a flowchart illustrating a process of performinga bypass checkout using a shopper mobile application, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 5 is an object interaction diagram describing a first method forfulfilling an order via a shopping assistance platform, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 6 is an object interaction diagram describing a method ofaccelerated checkout, according to one embodiment.

The figures depict various embodiments of the present invention forpurposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readilyrecognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments ofthe structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed withoutdeparting from the principles of the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Environment of a Shopping Assistance Platform

FIG. 1 illustrates the environment of a shopping assistance platform,according to one embodiment. The environment 100 includes an onlineshopping concierge service 102. The system 102 is configured to receiveorders from one or more customers 104 (only one is shown for the sake ofsimplicity). An order specifies a list of goods (items or products) tobe delivered to the customer 104. In some embodiments, the orderspecifies one or more retailers from which the selected items should bepurchased. The customer may use a customer mobile application (CMA) 106to place the order; the CMA 106 is configured to communicate with theshopping assistance platform 102.

The system 102 is configured to transmit orders received from customers104 to one or more shoppers 108. A shopper 108 may be a contractor,employee, or other person (or entity) who is enabled to fulfill ordersreceived from the online shopping concierge service 102. The environment100 also includes three retailers 110 a, 110 b, and 110 c (only threeare shown for the sake of simplicity; the environment could includehundreds of retailers). Each shopper 108 fulfills an order received fromthe online shopping concierge service 102 at one or more retailers 110and delivers the order to the customer 104. In one embodiment, shoppers108 make use of a shopper mobile application 112 which is configured tointeract with the online shopping concierge service 102.

Online Shopping Concierge Service

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an online shopping concierge service, accordingto one embodiment. The online shopping concierge service 112 includes aninventory management engine 202, which interacts with inventory systemsassociated with each retailer 110. In one embodiment, the inventorymanagement engine 202 requests and receives inventory informationmaintained by the retailer 110. The inventory of each retailer 110 isunique and may change over time. The inventory management engine 202monitors changes in inventory for each participating retailer 110. Themanagement engine 202 is also configured to store inventory records inan inventory database 204. The inventory database 204 may storeinformation in separate records—one for each participating retailer 110,or may consolidate or combine inventory information into a unifiedrecord. Inventory information includes both qualitative and qualitativeinformation about items, including size, color, weight, SKU, serialnumber, and so on. In one embodiment, the inventory database 204 alsostores purchasing rules associated with each item, if they exist. Forexample, age-restricted items such as alcohol and tobacco are flaggedaccordingly in the database 204.

The online shopping concierge service 102 also includes an orderfulfillment engine 206 which is configured to synthesize and display anordering interface to each customer 104 (for example, via the customermobile application 106). The engine 206 is also configured to access theinventory database 204 in order to determine which products areavailable at which retailers 110. The engine 206 determines a sale pricefor each item ordered by a customer 104. Prices set by the engine 206may or may not be identical to in-store prices determined by retailers110 (which is the price that customers 104 and shoppers 108 would pay atthe retailer 110). The order fulfillment engine 206 also facilitatestransactions associated with each order. In one embodiment, the engine206 charges a payment instrument associated with a customer 104 whenhe/she places an order. The engine 206 may transmit payment informationto an external payment gateway or payment processor. The engine 206stores payment and transactional information associated with each orderin a transaction records database 208.

In some embodiments, the order fulfillment engine 206 also shares orderdetails with retailers 110. For example, after successful fulfillment ofan order, the engine 206 may transmit a summary of the order to theappropriate retailer. The summary may indicate the items purchased, thetotal value of the items, and in some cases, an identity of the shopper108 and customer 104 associated with the transaction. In one embodiment,the order fulfillment engine 206 pushes transaction and/or order detailsasynchronously to retailer systems. This may be accomplished via use ofwebhooks, which enable programmatic or system-driven transmission ofinformation between web applications. In another embodiment, retailersystems may be configured to periodically poll the order fulfillmentengine 206, which provides detail of all orders which have beenprocessed since the last request.

The order fulfillment engine 210 may interact with a shopper managementengine 210, which manages communication with and utilization of shoppers108. In one embodiment, the shopper management engine 210 receives a neworder from the order fulfillment engine 206. The shopper managementengine 210 identifies the appropriate shopper 108 to fulfill the orderbased on one or more parameters, such as the shopper's proximity to theappropriate retailer 110 (and/or to the customer 104), his/herfamiliarity level with that particular retailer 110, and so on.Additionally, the shopper management engine 210 accesses a shopperdatabase 212 which stores information describing each shopper 108, suchas his/her name, gender, rating, previous shopping history, and so on.

Finally, as part of fulfilling an order, the order fulfillment engine206 may access a customer database 214 which stores informationdescribing each customer. This information could include each customer'sname, address, gender, shopping preferences, favorite items, storedpayment instruments, and so on.

FIG. 3A is a diagram of the customer mobile application (CMA) 106,according to one embodiment. The CMA includes an ordering interface 302,which provides an interactive interface with which the customer 104 canbrowse through and select products and place an order. The CMA alsoincludes a system communication interface 304 which, among otherfunctions, receives inventory information from the online shoppingconcierge service 102 and transmits order information to the system 102.The CMA 106 also includes a preferences management interface 306 whichallows the customer 104 to manage basic information associated withhis/her account, such as his/her home address and payment instruments.The preferences management interface 306 may also allow the user tomanage other details such as his/her favorite or preferred retailers110, preferred delivery times, special instructions for delivery, and soon.

FIG. 3B is a diagram of the shopper mobile application (SMA) 112,according to one embodiment. The SMA includes a barcode scanning module320 which allows a shopper 108 to scan an item at a retailer 108 (suchas a can of soup on the shelf at a grocery store). The barcode scanningmodule 320 may also include an interface which allows the shopper 108 tomanually enter information describing an item (such as its serialnumber, SKU, quantity and/or weight) if a barcode is not available to bescanned. SMA 112 also includes a basket manager 322 which maintains arunning record of items collected by the shopper 108 for purchase at aretailer 110. This running record of items is commonly known as a“basket”. In one embodiment, the barcode scanning module 320 transmitsinformation describing each item (such as its cost, quantity, weight,etc.) to the basket manager 322, which updates its basket accordingly.The SMA 112 also includes a system communication interface 324 whichinteracts with the online shopping concierge service 102. For example,the system communication interface 324 receives an order from the system102 and transmits the contents of a basket of items to the system 102.The SMA 112 also includes an image encoder 326 which encodes thecontents of a basket into an image. For example, the image encoder 326may encode a basket of goods (with an identification of each item) intoa QR code which can then be scanned by an employee of the retailer 110at check-out.

Bypass Checkout Via Mobile Device

As described with reference to FIG. 3A, the CMA 106 is used by theshopper to scan and record pricing, quantity, and other informationdescribing each item in an order. The barcode scanning module 320 allowsa shopper 108 to simply scan a barcode attached to an item (or enterinformation manually if necessary); the basket manager 322 maintains andupdates a record of all items being collected by the shopper 108 for aparticular order. In some embodiments, the online shopping conciergeservice 102, subsequent to receiving an identification of items forpurchase, can perform a “bypass checkout” in which it transmits paymentto the appropriate retailer 110 on behalf of the shopper 108, therebyremoving the need for the shopper 108 to wait in line at a physicalpoint-of-sale (such as a check-out counter) within the retailer.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate the process of performing a bypass checkoutusing a shopper mobile application, according to one embodiment. Ashopper receives 402 an order to be fulfilled (from the online shoppingconcierge service) and travels to an appropriate retailer. Theappropriate retailer may be communicated by the online shoppingconcierge service along with the order details, or it may be left to thediscretion of the shopper. The shopper locates 404 an item specified bythe order. The shopper scans 406 the item using a shopper mobileapplication; the shopper may also manually enter product and pricinginformation associated with the item if necessary. The shopper mobileapplication determines 408 if one or more special restrictions areassociated with the item. As described previously, special restrictionsinclude age restrictions (for alcohol and tobacco products),quantity/count restrictions (for high-demand items), and so on.

If the shopper mobile application determines that special restrictionsdo not apply, it simply adds 412 the item to a digital basket whichlists all items currently marked for purchase.

If the shopper mobile application determines that special restrictionsdo apply, it then determines 410 if the purchase is allowable. Thiscould include looking up the age of the customer (to see if he/she isold enough to purchase alcohol) or counting how many instances of theitem have already been collected for purchase (in the case where aretailer institutes a purchase limit for each customer).

In one embodiment, the shopper mobile application determinesallowability by requesting information from the online shoppingconcierge service. For example, the inventory management engine extractspurchasing rules from the inventory database and transmits them to theshopper mobile application. In another embodiment, the shopper mobileapplication maintains a local record of purchasing rules and accesses orreferences it as required.

Returning to FIGS. 4A and 4B, if the shopper mobile applicationdetermines that purchase of the item is allowable, it adds 412 the itemto the digital basket. At the same time, the shopper physically collectsthe item.

If the shopper mobile application determines that purchase of the itemis not allowable, then the application determines 414 if any items areremaining on the order. If there are, the shopper proceeds to locate 404the item (and continue as previously described). If not, the shoppermobile application, responding to input from the shopper, tokenizes 416the basket. Tokenization involves determining a final list of items forpurchase. In one embodiment, the shopper mobile application transmits anidentification of each item to the shopping assistance platform, whichmatches each item against the customer order and verifies that the orderhas been fulfilled.

Subsequently, the shopper mobile application determines 418 a totalgross merchandise value (GMV) for the basket of items. The GMV reflectsthe price that a customer would pay at a physical point of sale withinthe store. Tokenization may also involve determining whether one or morediscounts, promotions, or other price changes apply, and adjusting theGMV accordingly. The shopper mobile application then directs the onlineshopping concierge service to execute 420 a credit card payment to theretailer in the amount of the GMV. At this time or some time thereafter,the online shopping concierge service transmits 422 details of thetransaction to the retailer. The details include which items werepurchased and how much was paid for each. Asynchronously, the shopperdelivers 424 the order to the customer.

FIG. 5 is an object interaction diagram describing a first method forfulfilling an order via a shopping assistance platform, according to oneembodiment. A customer places 502 and order requesting one or moreitems. The customer places the order on via the customer mobileapplication or via a website associated with the shopping assistantsystem. The online shopping concierge service determines 504 an ordertotal. The system then transmits 506 the order details to a shopper. Theshopper fulfills 508 the order (as described previously with referenceto FIG. 2). Once the shopper has fulfilled the order, he/she transmits510 the basket details to the system. The system verifies 512 that theorder has been fulfilled satisfactorily. The system then determines 514a GMV which represents a total value of the order owed to the retailer.The system then charges 516 a payment instrument associated with thecustomer. The system then transmits 518 payment to the retailer in theamount of the GMV, as well as a summary of transaction details. Theretailer returns 520 a transaction confirmation to the system. Thesystem shares 522 the transaction confirmation with the shopper. Theshopper then delivers 524 the order to the consumer. The customer, uponreceiving the ordered items, returns 526 a confirmation of delivery tothe server.

Cost Reduction Via Direct Transaction

In a traditional transaction flow, the online shopping concierge service102 charges a customer payment instrument at the time an order isplaced. The service 102, based on an estimation of the funds required topurchase the order items, transfers funds to a stored value or prepaidcard in the possession of a shopper 108. The shopper 108 then fulfillsthe order, and pays for the items using the card. Consequently, in orderto collect payment from a customer 104 and enable a shopper 108 to payfor the ordered items, the service 102 must bear processing costs andfeeds associated with two separate card transactions.

The process described above with reference to FIG. 5 enables a moreefficient and lower-cost transaction flow. As described, the service 102determines the GMV of a basket of items submitted by a shopper 108. Theservice 102 then determines a service charge for the order (based on aflat rate, percentage, or combination thereof) and charges a paymentinstrument associated with the customer 104 for the total value of theGMV and the fixed service charge. The service's registered paymentprocessor or aggregator, based on a prior agreement with the service,performs a bifurcation of the customer's payment, wherein it transfersthe GMV to a merchant account associated with the retailer 110 and theservice charge to a merchant account associated with the service 102. Asa result, only a single card transaction is required, thereby loweringthe card processing fees charged to the service 102. Additionally, insome cases, the processing fee paid by the service 102 is assessed onthe service charge only, and not the total order value.

Accelerated Checkout

In another embodiment, the shopper 108 passes through the same check-outprocess as any other customer at the store. The shopper must thereforepresent an identification of the items for purchase as well as a paymentinstrument with which he/she will pay for the items. Typically,check-out cashiers scan each item individually and a point-of-sale (POS)system determines and displays a total sale price. The process ofscanning each item individually is time-consuming.

In some embodiments, a shopper 108 utilizes the shopper mobileapplication 112 to accelerate the traditional checkout process at aretailer 110. As described with reference to FIG. 2, the shopper 108scans using the SMA 112 each item he/she collects within the retailer110. The image encoder 326 of the shopping mobile application 112, asdescribed previously, is configured to encode details of a basket into areadable image, such as a QR code (as described previously). In order toaccelerate the process of check-out at a point of sale of the retailer110, the shopper 108 displays an encoded image at the point of sale. Theencoded image describes the basket and all the items it contains(including their quantity, price, SKU, etc.). A cashier or otheremployee associated with the retailer 110 therefore reads, captures, orscans the encoded image and extracts an identification of the items forpurchase. The shopper 108 then presents a payment instrument which isused to pay for the items.

FIG. 6 is an object interaction diagram describing a method ofaccelerated checkout, according to one embodiment. A customer places 602and order requesting one or more items. The customer places the order onvia the customer mobile application or via a website associated with theshopping assistant system. The online shopping concierge servicedetermines 604 an order total. The system then charges 606 a paymentinstrument associated with the customer. The system then transmits 608the order details to a shopper. The shopper fulfills 610 the order (asdescribed previously with reference to FIG. 2). Once the shopper isfinished collecting items within the retailer 110, he/she uses the SMAto generate 612 an encoded image. As described previously, the encodedimage contains information describing each item in the basket, such asits price, quantity, weight, SKU, serial number, and so on. In oneembodiment, this encoded image is a QR code. The shopper displays 614the encoded image to a cashier (or other employee) of the retailer, whoscans it to determine which items have been collected for purchase. Thecashier scans the encoded image using an image reader or otherelectronic device which extracts the information encoded in the image. Acomputer system subsequently determines 616 a GMV which is owed to theretailer. The cashier requests 618 payment of the GMV from the shopper.The shopper presents a payment instrument (such as a credit or debitcard) and pays 620 the GMV. The cashier transmits 622 a physical orelectronic receipt to the shopper. The shopper, using his/her shoppermobile application, returns 624 a confirmation of successful purchase ofthe basket to the online shopping concierge service. At some subsequentpoint in time, the shopper 108 delivers 626 the purchased items to thecustomer.

It should be noted that one or more aspects of the previously describedprocess may vary. For example, in some embodiments, the shopper 108 mayuse a self-service automated machine which is configured to read theencoded image. Additionally, instead of encoding basket details into anencoded image, the SMA 112 may instead transmit the basket data via oneof multiple communications technologies or protocols, including but notlimited to: RFID, Bluetooth, NFC, WiFi, and so on. In one embodiment,the shopper 108 is able to tap his/her mobile device to a device at thephysical check-out, whereby the SMA 112 transmits the basket details tothe device. The shopper can then pay for the items using one of multiplepossible payment methods (debit/credit card, cash, etc.).

SUMMARY

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has beenpresented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed.Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the abovedisclosure.

Some portions of this description describe the embodiments of theinvention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations ofoperations on information. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are commonly used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to convey the substance of their work effectively toothers skilled in the art. These operations, while describedfunctionally, computationally, or logically, are understood to beimplemented by computer programs or equivalent electrical circuits,microcode, or the like. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient attimes, to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules, withoutloss of generality. The described operations and their associatedmodules may be embodied in software, firmware, hardware, or anycombinations thereof.

Any of the steps, operations, or processes described herein may beperformed or implemented with one or more hardware or software modules,alone or in combination with other devices. In one embodiment, asoftware module is implemented with a computer program productcomprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code,which can be executed by a computer processor for performing any or allof the steps, operations, or processes described.

Embodiments of the invention may also relate to an apparatus forperforming the operations herein. This apparatus may be speciallyconstructed for the required purposes, and/or it may comprise ageneral-purpose computing device selectively activated or reconfiguredby a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer programmay be stored in a tangible computer readable storage medium, whichinclude any type of tangible media suitable for storing electronicinstructions, and coupled to a computer system bus. Furthermore, anycomputing systems referred to in the specification may include a singleprocessor or may be architectures employing multiple processor designsfor increased computing capability.

Embodiments of the invention may also relate to a computer data signalembodied in a carrier wave, where the computer data signal includes anyembodiment of a computer program product or other data combinationdescribed herein. The computer data signal is a product that ispresented in a tangible medium or carrier wave and modulated orotherwise encoded in the carrier wave, which is tangible, andtransmitted according to any suitable transmission method.

Finally, the language used in the specification has been principallyselected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not havebeen selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter.It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited notby this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on anapplication based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodimentsof the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, ofthe scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for completing a check-out at a physicalretailer via a mobile application, the method comprising: receiving, ata mobile application running on a mobile device, an order forfulfillment, the order specifying one or more items to be purchased atthe physical retailer; within a premises of the physical retailer,locating each item; scanning each item using the mobile applicationrunning on the mobile device, causing the item to be added to a basketof items; generating a machine-readable code encoding informationdescribing each item in the basket of items; displaying themachine-readable code from the mobile application running on the mobiledevice to an image reader at the physical retailer, wherein the imagereader is configured to scan the machine-readable code and extract theinformation describing each item in the basket of items from themachine-readable code; determining a total store value for the basket ofitems; initiating a payment of the total store value to the physicalretailer; and delivering each item in the basket of items to a customer.2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that apurchase of each item in the basket of items is allowable; identifying astore price of each item; and identifying quantity or qualityinformation associated with each item.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereindetermining that the purchase is allowable further comprises: accessinga set of inventory sale restrictions; identifying one or more salerestrictions associated with the item; accessing a customer profileassociated with the order; and determining if at least one of theidentified sales restrictions applies to the customer profile.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the set of inventory sale restrictions isprovided by the physical retailer to a system associated with the mobileapplication.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating a payment ofthe total store value to the physical retailer comprises: determining aservice charge associated with the order; determining a total order costbased on a sum of the service charge and the total store value; chargingthe total order cost to a payment instrument of the customer; andtransmitting to the physical retailer a portion of the total order costequal to the total store value.
 6. A method for performing an expeditedcheckout at a physical retailer, the method comprising: receiving, at amobile application running on a mobile device, an order for fulfillment,the order specifying one or more items to be purchased at a physicalretailer; within a premises of the physical retailer, locating eachitem; scanning each item using the mobile application running on themobile device, causing the item to be added to a basket of items;generating a machine-readable code encoding information describing eachitem in the basket of items; displaying the machine-readable code at apoint of sale from the mobile application running on the mobile deviceto an image reader at the physical retailer, wherein the image reader isconfigured to scan the machine-readable code and extract the informationdescribing each item in the basket of items from the machine-readablecode; receiving an indication of a total store value of the items;initiating a payment of the total store value; and delivering the itemsto a customer.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the machine-readablecode is a QR code.
 8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumstoring mobile application instructions for completing a check-out at aphysical retailer, the mobile application instructions when executedcausing a processor to: receive an order for fulfillment from an onlineshopping concierge service, the order specifying one or more items to bepurchased at the physical retailer; for each item: scan the item: andadd the item to a basket of items; generate a machine-readable codeencoding information describing each item in the basket of items; anddisplaying the machine-readable code to an image reader at the physicalretailer, wherein the image reader is configured to scan themachine-readable code and extract the information describing each itemin the basket of items from the machine-readable code.
 9. Thecomputer-readable storage medium of claim 8, further comprising:determining that a purchase of each item is allowable; identifying astore price of each item; and identifying quantity or qualityinformation associated with each item.
 10. The computer-readable storagemedium of claim 9, wherein determining that the purchase of each item isallowable further comprises: accessing a set of inventory salerestrictions; identifying one or more sale restrictions associated withthe item; accessing a customer profile associated with the order; anddetermining if at least one of the identified sales restrictions appliesto the customer profile.
 11. The computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 10, wherein the set of inventory sale restrictions is provided bythe physical retailer to a system associated with the mobileapplication.
 12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumstoring mobile application instructions for performing an expeditedcheckout at a physical retailer, the mobile application instructionswhen executed causing a processor to: receive, from an online shoppingconcierge service, an order for fulfillment, the order specifying one ormore items to be purchased at a physical retailer; scan the one or moreitems; add the one or more items to a basket of items; generate amachine-readable code encoding information describing each item in thebasket of items: and display the machine-readable code at an imagereader at a point of sale within a premises of the retailer, wherein theimage reader is configured to scan the machine-readable code and extractthe information describing each item in the basket of items from themachine-readable code.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 12, wherein generating a machine-readable code furthercomprises encoding purchase information for each item in the basket intoa QR code.
 14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storinginstructions for remotely purchasing an order fulfilled at a physicalretailer by a shopper, the instructions when executed causing aprocessor to: receive an order for fulfillment, the order specifying oneor more items to be purchased at the physical retailer; receive, from amobile application running on a mobile device associated with a shopper,an identification of each item in a basket of items; generate amachine-readable code encoding information describing each item in thebasket of items; display the machine-readable code from the mobileapplication running on the mobile device to an image reader at thephysical retailer, wherein the image reader is configured to scan themachine-readable code and extract the information describing each itemin the basket of items from the machine-readable code; determine a totalstore value for the basket of items; initiate a payment of the totalstore value to the physical retailer; and transmit a confirmation ofsuccessful payment to the mobile application running on the mobiledevice associated with the shopper.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein initiating apayment of the total store value to the physical retailer comprises:determining a service charge associated with the order; determining atotal order cost based on a sum of the service charge and the totalstore value; charging the total order cost to a payment instrument ofthe customer; and transmitting to the physical retailer a portion of thetotal order cost equal to the total store value.
 16. A method forremotely purchasing an order fulfilled at a physical retailer by ashopper comprising: receiving an order for fulfillment, the orderspecifying one or more items to be purchased at the physical retailer;receiving, from a mobile application running on a mobile deviceassociated with a shopper, an identification of each item in a basket ofitems; generating a machine-readable code encoding informationdescribing each item in the basket of items; displaying themachine-readable code from the mobile application running on the mobiledevice to an image reader at the physical retailer, wherein the imagereader is configured to scan the machine-readable code and extract theinformation describing each item in the basket of items from themachine-readable code; determining a total store value for the basket ofitems; initiating a payment of the total store value to the physicalretailer; and transmitting a confirmation of successful payment to themobile application running on the mobile device associated with theshopper.